Scalable computer arrangement and method

ABSTRACT

In an embodiment, the arrangement and method enable the accessing of certain stored information by utilizing algorithms. The validity of the algorithms and/or retrieved data are determined by a validity management module. If the algorithm and/or the retrieved data is determined by the validity management module to be invalid, the algorithm and/or the retrieved data may be updated, whereby self-correction occurs dynamically over time with changing stored information. In another embodiment, the arrangement and method enable networked computer systems each including a standardized database access system having hyper objects employing embedded algorithms or rules for accessing information across the network in a standardized manner, even though the networked computer system databases may employ different schema and formats. Each computer system operates independently, and yet is able to dynamically self-correct when invalid algorithms or data is determined. New computer systems can be added or removed to the network without requiring adjustments to its database schema or formats and without synchronizing with the existing networked computer systems.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to, and is a continuation of, U.S.non-provisional patent application, application Ser. No. 14/231,649,entitled SCALABLE COMPUTER ARRANGEMENT AND METHOD, filed on Mar. 31,2014 and issuing on Jan. 8, 2019 as U.S. Pat. No. 10,176,204; U.S.non-provisional patent application, application Ser. No. 13/342,887,entitled SCALABLE COMPUTER ARRANGEMENT AND METHOD, filed on Jan. 3, 2012and issuing on Apr. 1, 2014 as U.S. Pat. No. 8,688,649; PCT patentapplication, Application No. PCT/US2011/055649, STANDARDIZED DATABASEACCESS SYSTEM AND METHOD, filed on Oct. 10, 2011, now expired; and U.S.non-provisional patent application, application Ser. No. 12/902,800,entitled STANDARDIZED DATABASE ACCESS SYSTEM AND METHOD, filed on Oct.12, 2010 and issued on Oct. 1, 2013 as U.S. Pat. No. 8,549,026, each ofwhich is assigned to the same assignee with the same inventors, and isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention, in general, relates to a scalable computerarrangement and method which provide for dynamic self-correction. Moreparticularly, such an arrangement and method provide for access tostored information in a dynamically evolving manner.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There is no admission that the background art disclosed in this sectionlegally constitutes prior art.

There have been many different types and kinds of computer arrangementsfor managing and accessing stored information. For example, referencemay be made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,829,006; 5,848,415; 6,016,497;6,119,126; 6,223,227; 6,571,232; 6,898,609; 7,200,602; 7,509,280;7,644,066; and 7,949,545; and U.S. patent application publications2003/0105811; 2003/0208493; 2006/0173873; 2006/0036656; 2007/0271275;and 2009/0187344.

Computers have stored information for use in a variety of applications.For example, electronic databases have been known and used for manyyears. A given native database such as a given populated relationaldatabase may require modification, such as a change in the schema forthe database. In so doing, it would be necessary to provide additionalchanges and modifications to the access method for the database toenable the same or similar reports or other outputs to be generated. Thesame would be true if the type of database structure were to be changed.In this regard, changes and modifications would also be required tomaintain consistent reports and other output from the system.

It would be desirable to have a standardized database accessarrangement, whereby standardized outputs, such as reports, can begenerated by accessing distributed native databases even after theschema or the format of one or more of the databases may be modified orreplaced.

One example of one type of electronic databases having different schemaor requiring modifications in the existing schema, may be a healthcaremanagement system for healthcare enterprises. Modernly, primaryhealthcare is often times provided by healthcare enterprises. Ahealthcare enterprise is a group of healthcare facilities including, forexample, hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies, and others. Healthcareenterprises can be expansive, encompassing hundreds of doctors and manygeographically widely dispersed point of care facilities. Alternatively,they can be more modest in size having just a few facilities.

Further, each facility may have computer systems that operatedifferently and store information in diverse formats and schema. Thus,information from different facilities of the same enterprise or of adifferent enterprise, may not be readily usable by another facilitywithin the same enterprise or enterprises. For example, if a patient hasbeen seen at two or more different facilities of an enterprise or ofdifferent enterprises, the medical number assigned to the patient may bedifferent for each facility or enterprise.

A healthcare enterprise having multiple facilities may encounter severalproblems when admitting a patient. For example, it would be helpful toknow whether or not the patient to be admitted is a current patient orhad been previously admitted at any of the facilities of the same ordifferent enterprise. Since each of the facilities may be using recordmanagement features incompatible with the other facilities, there is noefficient manner to find if a patient had been previously admitted tothe same enterprise or to a different enterprise.

Confidently identifying all of the distributed records for a givento-be-admitted patient can be a daunting task. However, it is criticalthat the patient be positively associated with their true and completemedical record, if available. Such an identification task is exacerbatedif the patient is unconscious. The person admitting the patientoftentimes must rely solely on antidotal information to establish theidentity of the patient. Thus, the actual identity of the patient maynot be established, or an incorrect identity made. Either way, providingtreatment for the patient is difficult and may even result in harmfuldelays in the treatment for the patient.

In providing healthcare to a patient, it is highly desirable that acomplete medical history be available to healthcare practitioners.However, in the modern healthcare environment, patients routinely aretransferred to different facilities of the same or different enterprise.Thus, over a period of years a patient's medical record may becomefragmented and dispersed among the various facilities of an enterprise,or even different enterprises.

Therefore, in general, it would be highly desirable to have a newcomputer arrangement for more efficiently and effectively communicatinginformation. When the stored information changes or grows over time, itcan be a challenge to continuously adapt the computer arrangement to theever changing environment. Only one example of which is a system ofdistributed patient databases. Such a computer arrangement is everchanging. As patient data increases among a group of distributeddatabases, such as the databases associated with various facilities of ahealthcare enterprise, or among various different and even unrelatedhealthcare enterprises, the complexity of managing the growing storedinformation continues to be an ongoing problem requiring attention.

The new computer system further should be able to quickly andefficiently be installed without burdensome expense to the enterprisethat uses the computer system. When the computer arrangement is part ofa computer network, for example, a new computer system joining thenetwork should be able to preserve prior information technologyinvestments and maintain its stored information with little or nomodifications required.

In the example of a computer network, it would be desirable to have sucha new computer network and method which could resolve non-compatibledata information between network member computers, so that desiredrequested information such as given desired data files or records couldbe uniquely and confidently identified across the entire network, sothat the desired information could be readily accessed across thecomputer network. As an example, but not by way of limitation, aclinical information system may contain clinical data about a patientorganized by patient identification fields. The fields may not be uniqueor compatible across distributed hospital systems in the same ordifferent enterprises. Thus, it would be important to have a uniqueidentifier for every patient across the entire network of hospitalsystems.

One conventional technique for providing a network of computer systemsemploying databases is the “shadow” database arrangement. A shadowdatabase is a separate database which stores the data of all thenetworked databases. In this manner, each member computer system hasaccess to the data of all the networked databases by accessing theshadow database. However, all the databases must be synchronized withthe shadow database. When inconsistencies are detected, then aresolution must be made in each separate database and in the shadowdatabase. Also, whenever a new database is added to the network, theshadow database must be reconstructed to add a copy of the new databasedata. Also, each one of the existing network member databases usuallyrequire reconstruction, because all of the network databases and theshadow database must be synchronized.

Such requirements for a shadow database arrangement are time consuming,awkward and expensive. Maintaining the synchronism among the networkdatabases is a continuous process of reconstruction as more and moredata is being stored across the network. Also, such a networkarrangement is limited to the number of databases that may be added.Every time a new database is added to the network, the complexity ofmaintaining the arrangement is multiplied and the shadow databasecontinues to grow in size. When a new database is added to the network,the new database must be reconstructed to be compatible with the schemaof the other network databases and the shadow database, so that anymember computer system can access network data by accessing the shadowdatabase. Thus, any new database can not be quickly and efficientlyadded to the network as the entire network is impacted including theshadow database.

It would be highly desirable to be able to add new databases to anexisting network of databases in a fast and efficient manner. Also, itwould be enormously beneficial to be able to expand the size of thenetwork of databases substantially without limits in a convenient andcost effective manner. By so doing, any computer system database may beadded to an ever expanding number of networked databases so thatinformation may be exchanged readily and conveniently across thenetwork.

Thus, it would be highly desirable to be able to exchange data betweennetwork member computer systems in a standardized manner, even where atleast some of the databases have different schema. It would be desirableto have the ability to interchange information across databases, andstill be able to communicate in a standardized manner. Additionally,such a computer network should be scalable to be able to addconveniently new legacy databases of new computer systems, or of newfacilities, even though the new databases have different schema and eventhough some of the existing databases may have their schema revised orchanged periodically.

All of this should be accomplished by having each computer system of thenetwork being a stand alone computer. In this regard, there would be noneed for centralized indexes or other centralized control operations forthe network. A new computer system should be able to be added to thenetwork in a stand alone manner and function almost immediately on thenetwork, without restructuring its database. Also, any inconsistenciesin the information being interchanged should be self-correcting anddynamically adaptable.

Such a computer arrangement and method should also be able to beself-correcting dynamically should incompatible information be retrievedfrom the distributed databases. Furthermore, such a computer network andmethod should be able to add a new computer system to the existingnetwork and begin to function with the other networked computer systemsalmost immediately without any revisions to its formats or schema andwithout any revisions to the other networked computer systems. Eachnetworked computer system could function in a stand alone manner and yetbe able to access all of the databases across the entire network, eventhough there may be differences in the formats and schema among thevarious databases.

As to the more general aspects of the invention, the present inventionis not in any way limited to clinical information systems, or even tonetworked computers. The present invention may be employed on a singlestand alone computer which may be used for a variety of differentapplications and uses. Such variety of different applications and usesmay include, but is not in any way limited to, financial applications,office applications, video games, system controls and a whole host ofmany other applications and uses. The computer arrangement and method ofthe present invention relates in general to an efficient and effectivetechnique for adapting dynamically over time to continuously changingstored information requirements. The technique enables dynamicself-corrections on the fly to be made as information requirementschange with time. Thus, the novel technique is scalable and selfcorrecting automatically over time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to better understand the invention and to see how the same maybe carried out in practice, non-limiting preferred embodiments of theinvention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a generalized block diagram of a computer arrangement which isconstructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method of operating the computer arrangementof FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a more detailed block diagram of a hyper object databaseaccess system of a portion of the computer arrangement of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a generalized flow chart of the computer arrangement of FIG.3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the present invention will now be described morefully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichsome, but not all, embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed, theseembodiments of the invention may be in many different forms and thus theinvention should not be construed as limited to the embodiments setforth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided as illustrativeexamples only so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legalrequirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

It will be readily understood that the components of the embodiments asgenerally described and illustrated in the drawings herein, could bearranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations.Thus, the following more detailed description of the certain ones of theembodiments of the system, components and method of the presentinvention, as represented in the drawings, is not intended to limit thescope of the invention, as claimed, but is merely representative of theembodiment of the invention.

According to at least one embodiment of the present invention, acomputer arrangement and method enables the accessing of certain storedinformation by utilizing at least one algorithm. The validity ofretrieved data and/or the algorithm itself is determined by a validitymanagement module. If the retrieved data and/or the algorithm isdetermined by the validity management module to be invalid, thealgorithm and/or the retrieved data is updated, whereby self-correctionoccur dynamically over time with changing stored information.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a computerarrangement and method are employed for a scalable network of computersystems to interact with certain information stored in a group ofnetwork databases, at least some of which having different schema. Eachone of the networked computer systems use a standardized database accesssystem storing a group of standardized hyper objects, at least some ofwhich include algorithms to enable data to be accessed in a standardizedmanner from any of the network databases. An algorithm embedded in oneof the hyper objects of one of the computer systems can interact withthe information stored in its database and alternatively with theinformation stored in the other databases across the network. The datacan be accessed from the network databases across the network in astandardized manner.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, the computerarrangement and method employs a validity management module to determinethe validity of the algorithm and/or the data retrieved from thedatabase. If either or both is determined by one of the validitymanagement modules to be invalid, such one of the validity managementmodules provides update information for the algorithm or the retrieveddata to thereafter cause the algorithm and/or the retrieved data to bevalid. Thus, self-corrections occur dynamically over time with changingstored information.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, thecomputer arrangement and method enables each one of the computer systemsto operate in a stand alone manner. Each one of the computer systems canoperate independently of the other network computer systems andalternatively can access data in a standardized manner across thenetwork from any of the network databases.

According to a still further embodiment of the present invention, thecomputer arrangement and method enables connecting in communicationadditional computer systems to the existing scalable network of computersystems without requiring adjustments to the networked existing computersystems or the added computer systems and without requiring the addedcomputers to be synchronized with the existing computer systems. Thus,the added computer systems are able to retain their own native schemaand formats, and the added computer systems can, once added incommunication with the existing network computer systems, functionnormally and provide self-corrections only upon determining theexistence of an invalid algorithm and/or retrieved data to enable thecomputer arrangement to be scalable.

A further embodiment of the present invention relates to the computerarrangement and method wherein in response to an invalid algorithmand/or retrieved data, update information is used locally in a givencomputer system as well as being sent to other network computer systems.

Another embodiment of the present invention relates to the computerarrangement and method wherein the algorithm and/or retrieved data areupdated when an invalid algorithm and/or retrieved data is determined.

According to at least some of the embodiments of the present invention,a computer arrangement and method enable networked computer systems todetermine if certain desired information retrieved from networkeddatabases is invalid and can self correct dynamically by updating theretrieved data. The updates may be sent across corresponding algorithmsof the networked computer systems, so that the desired information willbe valid across the network.

According to other embodiments of the present invention, a computerarrangement and system may include networked computer systems employinghyper objects to enable standardized outputs such as reports and otherinformation to be generated.

By utilizing the foregoing techniques, a readily scalable computersystem network can be employed. New network member computer systems,even having databases with different database schema and/or formats, maybe added to existing computer systems or removed from the computernetwork without disrupting the distributed network. When it isdetermined that certain algorithms and/or retrieved data is invalid, thealgorithm and/or the retrieved data may be updated locally and acrossthe entire database network. In this manner, the network system isreadily and conveniently scalable.

According to at least some of the embodiments of the present invention,the database access computer network and method enable standardizedoutputs such as reports, displays and others to be produced,independently of the underlying database employed. In this manner, anative database can be utilized for producing desired standardizedreports and other such output, independently of the schema or datastructure of a given database. Also, the same standardized reports orother output can be readily created even though a new database is addedto or an existing database is removed from the network, or even though achange is made in the schema and/or the database structure of anexisting network database.

One embodiment of the present invention relates to a standardizedtechnique for accessing data from a database. The technique may includeproviding a group of hyper objects each containing a differentuniqueness algorithm or rule. A hyper object is similar to aconventional object, except that it does not contain or store data, onlyalgorithms or rules for accessing data from a separate database. When ahyper object query language (HOQL) query is received using an HOQLengine, at least one hyper object is selected using the HOQL engine inresponse to the HOQL query. A data request is sent via the selectedhyper object to retrieve data from the database. The requested data isused according to the algorithm or rule associated with the selectedhyper object to provide a desired output.

Thus, according to certain embodiments of the present invention, thestandardized database access computer network and method can be utilizedfor different native databases for creating standardized outputs inresponse to HOQL queries which are similar to familiar SQL queries,independently of changes to database formulation or schema.

The standardized database access system provides management functionsuch as creating, storing, deleting or listing hyper objects. It alsoprovides for data access functions of retrieving, storing and updatinghyper objects. The hyper objects include both data objects and contextobjects. The context objects determine for the data hyper objectscertain environment or configuration of the information requestedresponsive to a query.

The data accessed by the hyper object may be interpreted by the use of acontext hyper object. The context hyper object may take into accounttime, location, and/or other, which may change the perspective of dataaccessed. For example, when an embodiment of the computer arrangementand method are used in the clinical environment, a normal drug dose maychange dramatically for a neonate as compared to an adult, demonstratingthe importance of the context of age.

The context hyper object could cause a context portion of an algorithmor rule of one or more data objects to be transformed accordingly tofacilitate the search. Such an approach may be particularly useful wheremany native database/schema combinations are employed and standardizedoutputs are desired.

General Description

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2thereof, there is shown an embodiment of the invention employed in anetworked computer generally indicated at 10. The scalable computerarrangement 10 includes at least two similar distributed network membercomputer systems, such as the computer systems 11 and 13 which aregenerally similar to one another. It should be understood that thecomputer arrangement 10 may include many more networked computer systems(not shown). Also, it is important to note that a single computer systemmay also employ an embodiment of the present invention and functionstand alone without being networked.

The system 10 may include a computer 16 for accessing distributed localnative databases such as a native database 36, as well as accessingother network native databases such as a native database 38 of thenetwork member computer system 13 via a network, such as the Internetnetwork 20. It should be understood that other forms of communicationbetween and among the network member computer systems may be employed inplace of the Internet, and other wireless networks or other wiredconnections are contemplated.

The computer arrangement 10 enables new member computer systems to beadded in a convenient manner to scale up the network. In this regard, anew network member computer system, such as the system 11 or the system13, may be networked with the other network member computer systemswithout affecting the other members of the network. In this regard, newnetwork member computer systems being added to the existing network areable to function normally almost immediately without interruption, aswell as all the other members of the network 10. Similarly, existingcomputer systems can be removed from the network without disrupting it.The network 10 enables its member computer systems including a newmember to communicate with one another and access information from allof the computer system databases to access data across the entirenetwork in a standardized stand alone manner, even when a new member isadded to, or an existing member is removed from, the network, and eventhough a new member is not required to change the format or schema ofits database. Reports and other output being generated concerning theinformation retrieved from the network databases could have standardizedformats. All of this is accomplished, even though at least some of thenetwork databases have different formats and different schema.

The computer arrangement 10 is dynamically adaptable andself-correcting. When invalid rules or algorithms and/or retrieved datais discovered, the computer arrangement 10 resolves the invalidityproblem across the entire network automatically. The corrections mayoccur only when an invalidity is detected. Thus, a new member can beintroduced to the network without requiring adjustments such as to theformat or schema of the data base to match others in the network. Also,existing computer systems can be removed without disrupting the network.

In general, when invalid database data and/or invalid algorithms orrules are discovered, it is also self-corrected as hereinafter describedin greater detail. Once invalid retrieved data and/or an invalidalgorithm or rule is discovered, the retrieved data and/or algorithm orrule is updated locally and each network computer system will receivethe updates to its corresponding data and/or algorithm or rule. In thisregard, each network computer system will receive update notificationregarding an update, and then each computer system may make suitablechanges to its algorithm or rule, or other update as each computersystem deems necessary using the same method as described herein. Thismethod enables the network to be maintained in synchronization and eachcomputer system can continue to operate symmetrically and independently.

Since each network member computer system is generally similar to oneanother, only the network member computer system 11 will now bedescribed in greater detail. Referring now to FIG. 1, each networkmember computer system such as the system 11 includes a standardizeddatabase access system (SDAS) such as the system 26. Similarly, thenetwork member computer system 13 includes a standardized databaseaccess system 22 which is similar to the system 26.

As hereinafter described in greater detail, the standardized data accesssystem such as the system 26 helps enable communication with the networkdatabases such as the databases 36 and 38 in a standardized manner sothat standardized reports, for example, can be accessed by a computersuch as the computer 16 for the computer arrangement 10. Also, thestandardized database access system such as the system 26 employs ahyper object library generally indicated at 25, as hereinafter describedin greater detail, to facilitate undertaking the exchange of data in astandardized manner between and among the network member computersystems such as the systems 11 and 13. The library 25 includes a groupof hyper objects each having embedded algorithms or rules, such as thehyper objects 19 and 21 which may be used to, amongst other things,retrieve unique data from the database 36 as well as from the othernetworked databases such as the database 38. Each corresponding one ofthe other network member computer systems includes a similar group ofhyper objects each having corresponding algorithms, to enable uniquedata to be communicated across the entire network. For example, and notby way of limitation, if the network member computer system 11 is ahospital system, patient management tools may apply to all networkmember computer systems across the network. Decision support tools maybe applied to a selected patient population (for example, all patientswith diabetes). From this population, rules-based criteria formanagement/monitoring may be used via similar algorithms as a commondata exchanging protocol across all of the network member computersystems.

As mentioned previously, in the computer network embodiment of thecomputer arrangement 10 of the present invention, network membercomputer systems may be added or subtracted from the computer networkwithout affecting the integrity of the overall databases or capabilitiesassociated with the embodiment of the inventive computer arrangement andmethod. The use of distributed corresponding algorithms and theself-correcting adaptable capabilities, as hereinafter described ingreater detail, enable the computer arrangement 10 to be readilyscalable and many functions are possible and contemplated in accordancewith the present invention.

The network member computer system 11 includes a rule validitymanagement module 40 which monitors data received from the local nativedatabase 36 via the hyper objects such as the hyper object 12. If themodule 40 determines the embedded algorithm or rule to be invalid, thenthe module 40 provides an update hyper object rule signal to the localhyper object 12 and other corresponding hyper objects of the othernetwork member computer systems such as the hyper object 6, for updatingthe rule in the corresponding hyper objects.

Similarly, a data validity management module 41 detects invalid dataretrieved from a database by hyper objects such as the hyper object 12,and then generates an update hyper object signal for updating the dataretrieved from the networked databases.

In general, when an algorithm and/or data update is generated then everycomputer system across the network may receive the update signals sothat all other networked computer systems and their databases may beupdated as well.

The computer arrangement 10 as illustrated in FIG. 1 shows an example ofhow the arrangement 10 self-corrects and operates in a standardizedmanner across the network, which will now be described in greaterdetail. Each standardized database access system such as the system 26includes a hyper object query language engine such as the engine 12 forcommunicating with the hyper object library 25 of hyper objects. Hyperobjects of the library 25 may be utilized to communicate queries via anadapter 34 to a native database 36. In this manner, data may beretrieved from the database 36 via the adapter 34 through the hyperobject library 25 and the engine 12 to other network computer systemsvia the network 20.

The hyper objects may each contain an algorithm or rule for facilitatingamongst other things, retrieving information from the native database36. For example, and not by way of limitation, if the arrangement 10 isused in a clinical or hospital environment, a patient identifier may bedirected to a particular patient. Therefore, certain attributes for thepatient may be used as the identifier. One example may be a group ofinformation such as the name of the patient, and the birth place of thepatient. As hereinafter described in greater detail, should thealgorithm such as the patient identification algorithm or rule of ahyper object such as the hyper object 19 be determined to be invalid,the algorithm may then be updated automatically.

Referring now to FIG. 1, considering now an example of how the computerarrangement 10 self corrects dynamically invalid algorithms and/orretrieved data. Assume that the computer 16, sends a request regardingnew database information via the network 20 to the network membercomputer system 11. The request is sent to the hyper object engine 12which in turn provides the request for a hyper object such as the hyperobject 19. The hyper object 19 then retrieves data via the adapter 34from the native database 36. The validity management modules 40 and 41determine whether or not the algorithm and/or retrieved data is valid ornot. If the algorithm and/or retrieved data is determined to be invalid,then the algorithm and/or retrieved data is updated along withcorresponding algorithms and/or data for the other networked computersystems.

By this updating of algorithms/data across the entire computerarrangement 10, algorithm and retrieved data invalidities are selfcorrecting dynamically across the network over time. Also, in thismanner, a new computer system can be added to the networked computerarrangement 10 without extensive delays and can function on the network10 almost immediately. Each computer system operates in a stand alonemanner in a networked embodiment of the computer arrangement 10, and isself correcting dynamically over time. For this reason, othernon-networked embodiments of the present invention are contemplated,since the computer arrangement and method of the present inventionenables computer algorithms and/or retrieved data to be dynamicallycorrected over time.

Computer Arrangement Operation

Referring now to FIG. 2 of the drawings, a generalized system operationwill now be described. As indicated at box 51, a given desired storedinformation may be retrieved from the databases of the computerarrangement 10, such as by using, for example, the hyper object 19retrieves data from database 36.

At box 53, the rule validity management module 40 in response toreceiving an ERROR/RULE message (indicating that the hyper object ruleis to be checked for possible errors) from the hyper object 19 of thestandardized database access system 26 via the hyper object querylanguage engine 12, determines if the hyper object algorithm or rule isvalid. If it is not valid, then the rule validity management module 40updates the hyper object rule for the hyper object 19 by sending anUPDATE HYPER OBJECT DATA signal to the hyper object 19. That same signalis also sent to all of the other network member computer systems forupdating the corresponding other algorithms or rules of thecorresponding hyper objects such as the hyper objects 6 of the networkmember computer system 13, as indicated at box 55. After updating thehyper object rule, the process continues at box 51 to again allow therule validity management module 40 to determine if the data provided bythe hyper object 19 is valid.

Assuming that the rule is functioning satisfactorily, the data validitymanagement module 41 determines if the retrieved data itself is valid.In this regard, if the rule is valid, the retrieved data itself may notbe valid and thus require updating or otherwise be corrected. If theretrieved data is not valid, the data validity management module 41 asindicated in box 58 in response to an ERROR/DATA signal (indicating thatthe hyper object data is to be checked for possible errors), updates theretrieved data by providing a signal UPDATE HYPER OBJECT DATA to theother network member computers. This signal is supplied to the hyperobject 19 via the hyper object query language engine 12, as well as toall of the other corresponding hyper objects such as the hyper object 6.In this manner, the updated data may then be stored in the networkeddatabases.

As indicated at box 51, the query is repeated to enable the validitymanagement modules 40 and 41 to determine if the rule and the retrieveddata are valid. If so, as indicated at box 60, the hyper object is thenused as being unique and retrieving valid data. When the updateinformation is forwarded to the other network member computer systems,both data and its context may be included.

As a simplistic example of a hyper object rule invalidity, assume thatthe algorithm requires a single attribute, a person's name to determinea person's identification. Suppose that the algorithm executes andretrieves two records, both of them for a person by the name of BobJones. However, the two records indicate that each Bob Jones has adifferent date of birth. One Bob Jones is age 10, and the other BobJones is age 50. The rule validity management module 40 would thendetermine that these are two different people by comparing the ages.Thus, the data retrieved by the algorithm is valid data, but thealgorithm is now incapable of always identifying a unique desired data.Accordingly, the rule validity management module 40 would determine thealgorithm to be an invalid algorithm. The embodiment of the computerarrangement and method of the present invention in this situation maythen cause the algorithm in this example to be updated dynamically bychanging the algorithm or rule by adding one or more attributes such asthe attribute of requesting the date of birth so that both the name andthe date of birth are used to identify a person. In this manner, thealgorithm or rule would be able to uniquely identify the desired person.

In a similar manner, as other ambiguities appear, additional attributesmay be added to resolve other ambiguities on an ongoing basisdynamically. For example, and not by way of limitation, a person'sphysical characteristics such as fingerprints, eye colors, gender and/orother physical characteristics of the person identifier may be added tothe other attributes for uniquely identifying persons. Once the updatedalgorithm is determined to be valid or not found to be invalid by thecomputer arrangement 10, the computer system is able to be dynamicallyself corrective over time. In this regard, the module 40 may cause thenetwork member computer system 11 to be updated locally by sending anupdate hyper object rule to the appropriate hyper object of the hyperobject library 25, and cause the other network member computer systemsto be updated similarly by sending the update hyper object rule acrossthe entire network, as indicated in FIG. 1.

Considering now an example of invalid retrieved data. A personidentifier in the form of a personal identifier field is created toidentify a certain person's records. Assume a simple rule by which datais assigned to the personal identifier field. The rule states that forevery personal identifier field there can be only one person's nameassociated with it in that record. Likewise, for every person's namethere can only be one personal identifier field associated with it. As aresult, assume a request is made of all records for a given personalidentifier field as the search key and the query returns more than onename associated with the personal identifier field. The data validitymanagement module 41 may then determine that the personal identifierfield data is proven to be not unique since records are retrieved withmore than one name. The module 41 then may decide which or all of thedata of the personal identifier field to correct and then make theneeded correction to the data based on an algorithm which will satisfythe rule. It should be noted that the retrieved data is determined to beinvalid, because it was found to be inconsistent with the rule. Thus theembodiment of the computer arrangement and method updates locally thestored data by correcting, in this example, the personal identifierfield data for one or more of the inconsistent records and thereaftersends update hyper object data to the local system 11 and to the othernetwork member computer systems so they may all be updated accordingly,as indicated in FIG. 1. In a second example, assume a request is made ofall records for a given person's name as the key and the query returnsmore than one associated personal identifier field. The data validitymanagement module 41 may then determine that the personal identifierfield data is proven to be invalid since records are retrieved with morethan one personal identifier field data for the same name. The module 41then may decide which or all of the data of the personal identifierfield data to correct and then make the needed correction, based on analgorithm which will satisfy the rule previously stated. Thereafter thedata validity management module 41 sends update hyper object data to thelocal system 11 and to the other network member computer systems so theymay all be updated accordingly, as indicated in FIG. 1.

It should be noted by way of clarification that patient identificationalgorithms such as the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,509,280 assignedto the same assignee as this application and incorporated herein byreference, have been known. In the patented system, patient identifiersare stored in a master index for a hospital enterprise and the patentedalgorithm approach enabled each patient identifier to be unique for thepatients having patient records stored in the enterprise computers.While such a technique has been highly successful, it does not addressthe present problem of bringing new computer systems having its legacydatabase, into communication with a computer network of other databaseswithout having to do any initial adaptation of the data identifiers suchas patient identifiers, before the new computer system can functiononline with the distributed databases of the various networked computersystems. In this regard, using the patented technique, where a singlemaster index is employed for all of the hospitals of a hospitalenterprise, the patient identifiers of a new data base being added to anexisting network, must all, for at least some applications, be comparedor otherwise reconstructed relative to the master index and thenrevised, if required, before the new database of a new computer systemcan be utilized in the distributed computer network. Furthermore, asexplained hereinafter in greater detail, the system contemplated by theU.S. Pat. No. 7,509,280, would probably have to be reconstructed to havea new database data structure or schema implemented to match each andevery data structure or schema of the other databases of the network tostandardize the operation.

Whereas, the inventive computer arrangement and method employsstandardized techniques which allow a new computer system to be readilyintroduced to the network in a convenient manner without requiringchanges or modifications in the new system or in the other existingcomputer systems. Similarly, existing computer systems can be removedfrom the network without disrupting it. Each computer system operatesstand-alone and can be introduced to the network and commence operationssubstantially immediately without unwanted and unnecessary revisions toits database structure.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the only customization which may berequired, at least for some applications, before a new network membercomputer system and its associated database could function on line withthe other networked computer systems and its database, would be to causethe adapter such as the adapter 34 to transform the data of the legacydatabase such as the database 36 for each hyper object of the hyperobject library such as the library 25 of FIG. 1. It is presentlycontemplated that the initial hyper object library such as the library25, may include one or more initial hyper objects when a new membercomputer system is being connected to the network. The initial hyperobject or objects correspond to similar or like hyper objects in theother networked member computer systems. Thereafter, the new systemincluding its database can function normally across the network, and anyinvalid data or invalid algorithms or rules, when they occur, may becorrected thereafter dynamically.

Unlike the shadow database arrangement which requires synchronizationand rebuilding of the database systems when new databases are added tothe network, with the arrangement of embodiments of the presentinvention, each computer system and its database functions in astandalone manner without requiring a cumbersome and awkward “shadow”database. Certain embodiments of the present invention enable newdatabases to be added to the network in a fast and efficient mannerwithout making any adjustments or rebuilding the other network members.Also, the embodiments of the present invention enable the network to bescaled upwardly without limit in a convenient and cost effective manner.

Standardized Database Access System

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawings, there is shown ingreater detail the standardized database access system 26, whichincludes the hyper object query language (HOQL) engine 12 for receivinga HOQL query from either a HOQL console 14 or the access computer 16utilizing an application programming interface (API) 18. The HOQL engine12 may utilize the HOQL query memory 21 for storing the HOQL queries.The presentation unit 23 presents standardized output to the user invarious forms such as printed reports, displays and others. The hyperobject library 25 containing a group of hyper objects, such as hyperobjects 27, 29, and 32, for responding to the HOQL queries. The hyperobjects may then access and manipulate data requested and received froma group of native databases such as the native database 36 and a nativedatabase 37 associated with the network member computer system II ofFIG. 1, via an adapter 34 and an adapter 39, respectively. Thepresentation unit 23 presents standardized outputs to the user in thevarious forms in response to the HOQL engine 12 as hereinafter describedin greater detail.

The hyper objects may each include different rules for requesting accessto data in the database and rules for manipulating the data receivedfrom the database. The hyper objects may not store data. Each one of therules in the hyper objects may include functional manipulations, logicaldecisions, and context transformations.

The hyper object library 25 may include at least one context hyperobject, such as a context hyper object 27, and a plurality of data hyperobjects, such as data hyper objects 29 and 32. The context hyper object27 may include rules that may be used to request context data andreceive the requested context data from the database 36 via the adapter34. The context data may include information regarding the context orenvironment specified in the search query. Upon receiving andmanipulating the requested context data using its rules, the contexthyper object 27 may then provide a transform command to one or more ofthe selected data hyper objects, such as data hyper object 29.

The data hyper object 29 may then utilize a transformation portion ofits rules. This transformation portion may include additional and/orspecific rules regarding the context or environment specified in thesearch query. The data hyper objects, such as data hyper object 29, maybe used to request hyper object data and receive the requested hyperobject data from the database 36 via the adapter 34. Upon receiving andmanipulating the requested hyper object data using its rules, the datahyper object 29 may then appear as a pseudo object, such as pseudoobject 38, to the HOQL engine 12 and provide a standardized output, suchas a report, to the presentation unit 23 via the engine 12.

An example of a context transformation may be initiated by a query, suchas the following: “What word corresponds to the number ‘1’ in context ofEnglish?” The number ‘1’ may correspond to a number of different words,such as “one”, “uno”, “ichi”, “eins”, etc., depending on the languagecontext. In this example, the word “one” may be utilized in the searchof the database.

Considering now a context age example, assume the heart rate of apatient is required to be analyzed. The analysis requires the patient'sage as a factor in the analysis. In order to determine whether or not aheart rate for a given patient is normal, a context object such as thecontext hyper object 27 in response to the RETRIEVE signal such amedical analysis retrieval signal regarding a given patient, from theHOQL engine 12, sends a REQUEST CONTEXT DATA signal to the nativedatabase 36 via the adapter 34. As a result, a CONTEXT DATA signal suchas the age of the patient being two days old, is retrieved from thedatabase 36 via the adapter 34 and provided to the context hyper object27, which then provides a TRANSFORM signal to the data hyper object 38.

The TRANSFORM signal may then provide context information to the datahyper object 38 to transform its rules to identify the given patient asbeing a neonate. In this manner, the data hyper object 38 has its ruletransformed in such a manner that neonate normal heart rate datainformation is utilized instead of heart rate information such, forexample, as adult heart rate information.

Some context transformations may be accomplished by a data hyper objectwithout the use of a context hyper object, such that a context rule maybe embedded in the rules of the data hyper object.

The presentation unit 23 may allow customization of the standardizedreport for each user. For example, a header including the company's nameor other information desired by the user may be added to the report orother desired output.

The database 36 may be a relational database and include one or moredatabases that require one or more adapters such as the adapter 34. Theadapters may be customized for each of the native databases to avoid theneed to modify the other components of the system.

The adapters such as the adapter 34 may provide an interface to allowaccess to the database 36, so that the adapter may be the only componentthat needs to be modified in order for the system to operate withdifferent databases. Each adapter may match native databases to commonrule sets for different raw data. For example, for databases having thecolors red, green, and blue, in a first context red may equal 1, greenmay equal 2, and blue may equal 3. In a second context, red may equal 3,green may equal 1, and blue may equal 2. Therefore, the adapter mayprovide, if required, the proper translation, depending on the contextof the query. The adapters may abstract the different data structuresand abstract them as to a standard output.

The HOQL may be implemented in a manner similar to Structured QueryLanguage (SQL) used for relational database queries and may useextensions for specific applications. The syntax for HOQL may besubstantially the same or similar to the syntax for SQL, but the actionsmay be different, such as instructing a first hyper object to command asecond hyper object to utilize a transformation portion of its rules inresponse to a context condition of the query.

The standardized database access system 10 may include both managementand data access functions. The management functions may include theability to create, delete, describe, and list hyper objects. The dataaccess functions may include the ability to retrieve, store, and updatedata from the database 36.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a standardized database access method using thesystem 10 of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention isshown and generally referenced as 100. At step 102 a search queryinputted by a user using the HOQL console 14 or the computer 16executing the appropriate API may be received. The query may be for asearch, which may be a Boolean search, a natural language search, orother appropriate search.

From this received search query a HOQL query may be generated andprovided to the HOQL engine 12 as shown at step 104. At step 106 theHOQL query may include a selection of one or more hyper objects in thehyper object library and instructions on their combination, ifnecessary. As shown in step 108, the hyper objects may then each send adata request to the database. From this data request to the database,the hyper object may then receive the requested data at step 110. Afterthe requested data is received at the hyper object, the data may bemanipulated to create a desired output such as a report or other desireddocument at step 112. The desired standardized output may include addingspecific user information or formatting to the report or document. Atstep 114 the desired output may be provided to the user at a display ona screen and/or as a printed document, or other.

If both a context hyper object and a data hyper object are selected, thecontext hyper object may send its context data request to the databaseprior to the data hyper object sending its hyper object data request tothe database. When the context hyper object receives the requestedcontext data from the database, the requested context data may then bemanipulated to determine whether or not a transformation portion of therules of one or more of the data hyper objects should be used inresponse to the HOQL query. If it is determined that a transformationportion of the rules of one or more of the data hyper objects should beused, a transform command may be sent to the appropriate data hyperobjects. A data hyper object that receives the transform command mayutilize the desired transformation portion of its rules in response tothe transform command and to the query. The data hyper object may thenuse this transformation portion of its rules to send its hyper objectdata request to the database and to manipulate the requested hyperobject data.

If during the generation of the HOQL query, it is determined that theavailable hyper objects in the hyper object library 25 are not adequateto respond to the search query from the user, or for any other reasonthat one or more new hyper objects would be desirable, the HOQL querymay instruct the creation of a new hyper object, such as hyper object 41(FIG. 3). This created hyper object 41 may then be utilized alone or incombination with other hyper objects to respond to the search query orother query as described above regarding FIG. 1. If it is determinedthat this created hyper object 41 may be useful for subsequent searches,it may be stored in the hyper object library 25 and become available foruse by subsequent HOQL queries. It should be noted that the hyper object41 may be deleted.

Therefore, it will become apparent to those skilled in the art that thecomputer arrangement and method of the present invention enables analgorithm or rule to learn and to adapt based upon individual experienceand thus be automatically corrected over time dynamically. Similarly,retrieved data is monitored, and if determined to be invalid, isupdated. This allows for scaling up the computer arrangement. As newinformation is stored, it is tested each time the algorithm or rule isexecuted to determine if it or its retrieved data is valid or not. Thus,dynamic self-correction occurs, only when required. Such a technique maybe employed in a single stand alone computer, or as described herein,may be employed advantageously in a group of networked computer systems.

Although the invention has been described with reference to the aboveexamples, it will be understood that many modifications and variationsare contemplated within the true spirit and scope of the embodiments ofthe invention as disclosed herein. Many modifications and otherembodiments of the invention set forth herein will come to mind to oneskilled in the art to which the invention pertains having the benefit ofthe teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associateddrawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the invention shall notbe limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modificationsand other embodiments are intended and contemplated to be includedwithin the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms areemployed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense onlyand not for purposes of limitation.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer arrangement for a scalable network ofcomputer systems to interact with stored data in a plurality of activenetworked databases, at least some of which having a different schemasor formats, comprising: each of a plurality of networked computer systemhaving a standardized database access system storing a plurality ofstandardized hyper objects, at least some of which including algorithmsto enable the data to be retrieved in a standardized manner from theplurality of active networked databases independently of databaseschemas or formats; at least one standardized hyper object of eachnetworked computer system having an algorithm embedded therein tomanipulate contents of the retrieved data by each individual networkedcomputer system from the plurality of active networked databases; andvalidity management modules in each active networked computer system tovalidate the retrieved data from the plurality of active networkeddatabases by analyzing the retrieved data with a respective embeddedalgorithm causing retrieval of the retrieved data; wherein if theretrieved data by one active computer system is determined by one of thevalidity management modules to be invalid, the validity managementmodule provides update information for the invalid retrieved data tothereafter self-correct the invalid retrieved data to be valid; wherebyself-corrections occur dynamically over time with changes in the storeddata; wherein upon receiving and manipulating the valid retrieved datafrom the plurality of active networked databases using the embeddedretrieval and manipulating algorithms, a standardized output isgenerated; and all of the stored data being retrievable from all activenetworked databases across the network in the standardized mannerwithout ever denying access to any of the active networked databases. 2.The computer arrangement according to claim 1, wherein each one of theactive networked computer systems operates in a standalone mannerindependently of the other active networked computer systems andalternatively accesses data across the network from any of the activenetworked databases.
 3. The computer arrangement according to claim 2,wherein the computer arrangement enables connections of additionalcomputer systems to the scalable network of computer systems or removingexisting computer systems from the scalable network of computer systemswithout requiring adjustments to other existing computer systems or theadditional computer systems, and without requiring the additionalcomputers to be synchronized with the existing computer systems, wherebythe additional computer systems are able to retain their own nativeschemas and formats and whereby the additional computer systems, onceenabled in communication with the existing computer systems, functionnormally and provide self-corrections only upon determining existence ofinvalid algorithms or retrieved data, thereby enabling the computerarrangement to be scalable.
 4. The computer arrangement according toclaim 3, wherein the validity management modules send the updateinformation to other networked computer systems.
 5. The computerarrangement according to claim 1, wherein the algorithm or the retrieveddata is updated.
 6. The computer arrangement according to claim 5,wherein the algorithm is updated by adjusting its attributes.
 7. Amethod of networking a group of computer systems to interact with storeddata in a group of networked databases each of which being individuallyassociated with one of the networked computer systems and, at least someof the networked databases having different schemas or formats,comprising: retrieving the stored data in a standardized manner, fromall active networked databases using a group of hyper objects associatedindividually with one active networked database, wherein the group ofhyper objects are stored in each of the networked computer systems, atleast one hyper object of each networked computer system having anembedded algorithm to enable the data to be retrieved independently ofdatabase schemas or formats, and at least one hyper object of eachnetworked computer system having an embedded algorithm to manipulatecontents of the retrieved data; validating the retrieved data with avalidity management module stored in each one of the networked computersystems to determine if the retrieved data is invalid by analyzing theretrieved data with a respective embedded algorithm causing retrieval ofthe retrieved data; if the retrieved data by one active computer systemis determined by the validity management module to be invalid, providingupdate information, by the management module, for the invalid retrieveddata to thereby self-correct the invalid retrieved data to be valid;whereby self-corrections occur dynamically over time with changes in thestored data; wherein upon receiving and manipulating the valid retrieveddata from the active networked databases using the embedded retrievaland manipulating algorithms, a standardized output is generated; andwherein all of the stored data being retrievable from all activenetworked databases across the network in the standardized mannerwithout ever denying access to any of the active networked databases. 8.A computer system for interacting with stored data in a plurality ofactive networked databases, at least some of which having differentschemas or formats, comprising: a standardized data access systemstoring a group of similar standardized hyper objects, at least some ofwhich including algorithms to enable data to be retrieved in astandardized manner from all of the plurality of active networkeddatabases independently of database schemas or formats; at least onehyper object having an algorithm embedded therein to manipulate contentsof the retrieved data from the plurality of active networked databasesin response to an inquiry; and validity management modules in thecomputer system to validate the retrieved data from the plurality ofactive networked databases by analyzing the retrieved data with arespective embedded algorithm causing retrieval of the retrieved data;wherein if the retrieved data by the standardized data access system isdetermined by the validity management module to be invalid, the validitymanagement module provides update information for the invalid retrieveddata to thereafter self-correct the invalid retrieved data to be valid;whereby self-corrections occur dynamically over time with changes in thestored data; wherein upon receiving and manipulating the valid retrieveddata from the plurality of active networked databases using the embeddedretrieval and manipulating algorithms, a standardized output isgenerated; and all of the stored data being retrievable from the activenetworked databases across the network in the standardized mannerwithout ever denying access to any of the active networked databases.